Among the many curious things about Sam 'Serious' Stone is that he is very rarely ever that serious. This gun-toting lug is as quick to the draw with a cheesy line as he is with a well-placed bullet to blow away legions of ghoulish monsters. Sam's brutish oeuvre has a certain charm to it, only occasionally getting a little tiresome; and that is a pretty good overall description of Secret Sam HD. This dual package contains both the First and Second Encounters recently re-released with high definition graphics on Xbox Live, along with new multiplayer modes. Despite being nearly a decade old, the first-person shooter still packs plenty of punch, ditching deep storytelling for unabashed blasting against hordes of enemies. There are certainly moments when the game's appeal starts to wane, as protracted battles against seemingly unending waves of foes get a tad boring. But the charm and humour of Serious Sam still offers a bullet-riddled, bull-headed alternative to modern tactical shooters.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

In both Encounters there is a hokum plot pulling all the action together about an alien invasion, with Sam required to save humanity and take on his arch nemesis Mental. The First Encounter sees the hero heading back to Egypt, while the Second picks up immediately after as he crashes on a spaceship, tackling levels in South America, Babylon and even the Middle Ages. In reality, it's all just window dressing for the star of the show - killing, and lots of it. The basic shtick of Serious Sam is that it is not about astute military tactics, it's about hammering away at the trigger while frantically trying to evade hordes of enemies. Most of the guns don't need reloading and ammo is rarely in short supply - this is a dumb, one dimensional shooter, but in a weird way that actually rather works.

Most levels involve guiding Sam from one space to another, triggering a series of staged battles against a variety of monsters - ranging from octopus-like ghouls with mini-guns to headless suicide bombers. There are the usual range of shotguns, machine guns and pistols, along with chainsaws, sniper rifles, laser blasters, mini-guns and a giant cannon. All the weapons are great fun to use and splattering the head off some unfortunate monster remains a visceral thrill. All the while, Sam keeps the one-liners coming as frequently as the bullets. After shooting a one-eyed monster, he quips: "Yeah, it's all fun and games until somebody loses an eye." To give a bit more variety to the levels, there are occasional switches to press or gravity defying sections, while efforts to increase replayability include secrets to discover and end-of-level score breakdowns.

However, a big problem with Serious Sam's outright focus on pure gunplay is that there are moments when this drifts into repetition, frustration and boredom. Some battles in the bigger areas just go on far too long with far too many enemies. After battling off the first few waves, the game really should move the player forward, but all too often you are left whacking away at constantly respawning enemies, getting increasingly bored. This is where Serious Sam really shows its age, as gamers now expect shooters to test brain as much as brawn. But even with these moments of irritation, Serious Sam's dumb enthusiasm always remains rather loveable, just as long as expectations are managed accordingly.

Both Encounters have been spruced up with HD graphics using the Serious 3 Engine, bringing nicely rendered textures such as skies and lightning. At times the game shows its age a bit, but things mostly rumble along pretty well. Multiplayer is another highlight, particularly on the Second Encounter. A great addition is a new co-operative mode called Survival for up to four players, which is basically a take on Horde mode in Gears of War 2. On the competitive side, pretty standard Deathmatch, Capture the Flag and Last Man Standing modes all offer some frantic fun. However, the problem with Serious Sam HD's multiplayer may be actually finding someone to play with or against on the servers, as most players will find little reason to leave the modern online shooters.

Overall, Serious Sam pulls no punches as a high-octane shooting gallery, not concerned with narrative or atmosphere. The eponymous hero wisecracks his way around the levels, while battering a horde of odd-looking monsters into bloody piles of limbs. The game's graphics have been admirably powered up to HD standards, framing the frantic FPS action. The rather one-trick pony gameplay can become repetitive and boring at times, with the lack of variety making some battles a chore. However, for every moment of annoyance in Serious Sam there are plenty more moments of joyous, bloody carnage. With Serious Sam 3 due to be released this summer on PC and consoles, Serious Sam HD is not a bad way to get up to speed with a shooter that never takes itself too seriously.